AN EXCLUSIVE CAVEAU IN THE HEART OF ROME FOR THE U.S. AMBASSADOR. BUILT IN RECORD TIME (9 MONTHS), ON JULY 23 THE WINE CELLAR AT VILLA TAVERNA (CREATED BY AGNESE MAZZEI) IS OPENED AND HOLDS 5,000 BOTTLES DONATED BY THE MOST IMPORTANT ITALIAN WINERIES

The latest gem added to the U.S. Embassy in Rome is the new ‘caveau’ or wine cellar that holds over 5,000 bottles of wine donated by some of the most important names in Italian winemaking. The cellar at Villa Taverna was created by architect Agnese Mazzei and built in record time (nine months). It was inaugurated on July 23.

The project was initiated by the previous Ambassador Ronald P. Spogli, who has now passed the new wine cellar on to his successor David Thorne. Spogli’s idea was to create a space at the Embassy where meetings could be held in a private yet comfortable and entertaining environment, that is, important international questions could be discussed over a good glass of wine. And now Thorne has inherited a wine cellar that includes a patrimony of 5,000 bottles of wine conserved at a controlled temperature. The quality of these wines will surely be excellent when considering that some of the most important names in Italian winemaking have donated their wines: Antinori, Mazzei, Castello Banfi, Santa Margherita, Mastroberardino, Planeta, Tenuta Il Greppo di Franco Biondi Santi, Zonin, Querciabella, Livernano, Collemassari, and Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi.

The architect behind this construction is none other than Agnese Mazzei of the Mazzei wine family. The wine cellar was excavated from the tufa embedded catacombs. It has three levels located underneath the garden and the materials used (travertine, wood-beam ceilings, etc.), re-evoke the timeless Roman architecture. Apart from the area for conserving the wine, there are also reception and tasting rooms totaling 170 square meters. It is the latest wine cellar designed by Agnese Mazzei who has also created cellars for Fonterutoli (Castellina in Chianti), Castello di Brolio, Tenuta San Guido, and for the Antinori in Montepulciano.

The Mazzei family has a long history of U.S. collaborations. In fact, ancestor Filippo Mazzei, helped American founding father Thomas Jefferson plant vineyards around his home in Virginia.